Blood Ties
by Dragon Hagalaz
Summary: Damien vows to destroy Cloud and the others, and forges an unholy alliance with one of their worst enemies. More chapters to come.
1. Damien

Damien winced as twin fangs pierced his throat. He could feel his blood, his very essence flowing out of his jugular into his sire. His eyes had been squeezed shut from the moment he felt Moktel's hot breath on his neck. Now, he opened them, and immediately wished that he hadn't. He could feel his master's blood red eyes burning deep into his soul.  
  
"Master, I…"  
  
"Shut up, human." Moktel growled low in his throat.  
  
"But…sire…I think I'm dying…" Damien winced.  
  
"No shit you fool, that's the point. You're going to die to live again."  
  
"But…you never told me how much it would hurt!"  
  
"Shut up, all your pains will be over in a few more seconds."  
  
Damien did as he was told. He did not want to do anything to stop his sire from bringing him into his next life. He would be reborn, as one of the descendents of Cain. He would be a vampire. In his heart, he knew this.  
  
But, after a few seconds, his heart stopped beating.  
  
"Wake up sleepyhead, don't have much time until the sun rises."  
  
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about, I don't care about the sun…"  
  
Damien woke up more quickly after Moktel dealt him a stinging slap to his cheek.  
  
"Will you care when you're nothing but a pile of ashes in this alley?" Moktel breathed.  
  
"You mean…I'm really a…a vampire?" Damien was incredulous.  
  
"Yes, boy, you're really a vampire. You're one of us, now." Moktel seemed satisfied at how his pupil was coming along.  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm up. Where are we going?"  
  
"We're going to a tomb, boy. We have to sleep during the day, you know."  
  
Damien let himself be led through the slowly awakening streets of New York to an old, run down building, where he slept through the day. 


	2. Cloud's New Life

Cloud awoke on the bed of hay with two things – a sore back and a renewed sense of purpose. The inn at which he slept was about two thirds of the way between the ruins of Midgar and Cosmo Canyon. He had been traveling for about a week on foot, and was about ready to break down a buy a Chocobo from one of the new wandering breeders. As he stretched, the morning sun crested the horizon, leaving him blinking in the bright sun. He yawned, and looked around for a bucket of water to douse his head in. After a few seconds, he spotted an old bucket in the corner, but there was no water. After searching for a few minutes outside for a well, he gave up.  
  
Walking back into the barn, he decided to take the easy way out. Taking out a green materia from a pouch at his belt, he cast a Water spell. The bucket immediately filled with water. Said water turned out to be ice cold when poured over Cloud's spiky head.  
  
"HOLY SHIT! That's cold!"  
  
Cloud quickly put the materia back into his pouch and grabbed a towel meant for cleaning Chocobos. After a few seconds, he had successfully ridden his head of water and cold, and his blond hair was now standing straight up in the air again.  
  
"Ahh, that's a hell of a lot better."  
  
Cloud strolled into the inn and tossed 100 GP to the innkeeper.  
  
"Thanks for the straw, old man." Cloud sarcastically said.  
  
"Don't mention it, Spiky." The innkeeper shot back.  
  
Cloud didn't reply, but simply raised his right hand and raised his middle finger.  
  
Cloud walked. That was all he knew, he did not pay any attention to his surroundings except for the rare encounters that he had with monsters. They were getting less and less frequent now that most knew him by his sword, not his face, and avoided him when possible.  
  
Dusk quickly approached, and when it did, Cloud was in the mountains. He was walking along a narrow, icy path, when he heard something that sounded like the call of a bird, but much worse.  
  
"Damnit, a Marlboro."  
  
Marlboro's had always given Cloud trouble, especially with their Bad Breath skill, but now that he had his ribbon, he didn't need to worry about any sicknesses. He listened to the slowly approaching screeches, and equipped a Fire 3 materia and a Deathblow materia to his Ultima Weapon. He simply leaned against a wall and waited.  
  
After about 5 minutes, the Marlboro was upon him. It was a hideous creature, all tentacles and difficult to fight.  
  
"C'mon, you piece of shit, show me what you got!" Cloud yelled.  
  
The Marlboro responded by attacking, which Cloud nimbly dodged.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" Cloud taunted. "Well, you want some, here you go!"  
  
Cloud stopped and focused. The Marlboro began it's Bad Breath attack, but Cloud was too fast, casting Fire 3 on it, which disrupted Bad Breath. While the Marlboro was distracted, Cloud jumped at it, and finished it with a deathblow.  
  
"Eww…what the hell's this green stuff on my sword?"  
  
Cloud touched one finger to the dark green ooze that was on the edge of his sword, and immediately it went numb.  
  
"Wow…I guess this must be some kind of powerful nerve poison. Well, I guess I better make use of it."  
  
Cloud quickly coated the rest of his sword with the deadly venom, and then kept on walking the steep slope.  
  
Little did he know that his newest weapon would be nothing against what would come. 


	3. Damien's Rebirth

Damien woke up the second the sun's cursed rays left New York. He pushed the 2-ton obsidian block off of his coffin and stepped out into the dust filled air of the crypt. Stretching, he cast a quick glance around his resting place. Not seeing Moktel, he decided to go searching for him. He looked up, and saw only the rotting floorboards of the apartment building above him. He listened carefully and heard only the sounds of humanity. The sounds of his food. Not sure what to do, he carefully climbed up the concrete stairs in search of nourishment. There were rats in the crypt, but he did not think those would quench his burning thirst.  
  
"Master?" Damien called with uncertainty. "Moktel, are you down here?"  
  
Not hearing any response, he continued to pick his way up the cold stairs, which soon ended, giving way to old, rotting wood. Carefully stepping on the parts which looked the most stable, he slowly walked out of the apartment complex. As soon as he was outside, his senses were assaulted by a combination of the fresh night air, blood coursing through warm veins, and urine and vomit at the bottom of the stairs. Hearing shallow breathing nearby, he decided to search for food. He descended the stairs, and turned around to see a young, maybe 22 year old girl dressed in torn brown clothes. He knew she was asleep, and he also knew that soon she would be sleeping the eternal rest. He quickly moved to her side, and turned down her collar to expose her neck. Knowing that she may soon wake up and cause a commotion, he sunk his fangs into her jugular vein.  
  
It was incredible. For Damien, it was like drinking life. For his kind, it was. He continued to gulp down blood until his thirst was completely quenched. Letting her limp body fall to the ground, he wiped the blood off of his mouth with his handkerchief. Tucking it back in his breast pocket, he decided to go back to his new home to get the rest of his belongings. Then he would go look for his sire. 


	4. Barrett's Surprise

It had been an extremely odd day for Barrett. He had been wondering around in the forest, looking for monsters, and for the first time in years, he couldn't find any. Crouching low behind a bush, he saw the large tracks of an Epiolnis. The Epiolnis were large animals with a body like that of an ostrich and feet like a huge bear. Barrett followed these tracks for a while, and just as dusk was falling, decided to climb a tree to get a better view while there was still light. While he climbed, he checked to make sure that his Missing Score gun that was attached to his arm was fully loaded. He didn't know how strong his enemies would be, or how numerous they were. Equipping his Choco Mog summon materia, he reached the top of the tree. Seeing nothing, he dropped back down. After rechecking the fresh tracks in the dirt, he continued to follow them. Just as he rounded a large oak tree, he felt something strange in the air.  
  
"What the hell…?" he muttered.  
  
As soon as he finished that sentence, he was blinded by a flash of purest white.  
  
"Shit!" was all he could say for the time.  
  
After a few minutes of blinking rapidly, Barrett's vision cleared. When he looked up to see what there was, his eyes met what was possibly the strangest sight he ever saw. 


	5. Moktel's Final Night

As soon as Damien reached the bottom of the stairs, he knew something was amiss. He could feel it, as though his blood had been turned to ice. Look frantically around, he could see nothing with his eyes. A few seconds passed, and Damien cursed himself.  
  
"Damnit, I have more powers now! Why aren't I using them?"  
  
Damien centered his conciousness, and then expanded it outwards, searching for something, anything that was different from what it should be. Almost immediately he located a huge dispersal of powers, but it appeared to be behind a wall.  
  
Running quickly to the wall, he listened, and could hear muffled explosions and grunts. Moving his hand over the old stone wall, he found a seam. Following the seam with a finger, he located a niche in the wall after what seemed like an eternity. He slipped both hands into it and pulled. It gave way quicker than he expected, and Damien almost fell back from overbalancing. Ducking in, he soon saw the problem, but his mind refused to believe it.  
  
It was Moktel, fighting with some human wizard. But that wasn't what Damien couldn't believe. It was that Moktel was actually losing the battle. His sire would never show weakness, but Damien could tell. After the year he had spent with Moktel, he knew when the old vampire was in pain. He quickly slipped into the shadows to try to avoid being seen until he thought he could help.  
  
"Hold STILL so I can kill you, you monster!" the human screamed.  
  
"You didn't say please!" Moktel growled back.  
  
Damien watched in awe as Moktel ducked under a crimson blast from the wizard and ripped a hole in the human's side. The mortal responded by raising both hands over his head, and then firing a huge ball of blue power at his master. Moktel tried to roll to the side, but he was too close for the wizard to miss. Damien could hear his master's screams as the ball burnt through the left side of his body.  
  
"NO!" Damien screamed in anguish.  
  
He regretted saying anything as the wizard snapped his head towards him.  
  
"Ahh, you must be Damien, this fool's protégé." The wizard said. "I've been expecting you, you know."  
  
"Then you've been expecting to die." Damien tried to make it sound intimidating, but he could tell it wouldn't work on this human.  
  
"You idiot. You know that you are no match for me. I can see it in your eyes."  
  
"No you can't. You're only human, you can't even see your own death staring at your face."  
  
"Oh stop bluffing, we both know it won't work. I'll tell you what though. Since I'm somewhat tired right now, instead of killing you, I'll just send you to the Shadow Planes."  
  
Those words sent a chill racing down Damien's back. He had heard of the Shadow Planes only in legend, but what he had heard was dreadful. The Shadow Planes were several planes of existence where only the shadows ruled. A person sent there was trapped in the utmost darkness forever, to be a slave to the nightmares that lurk in the dark.  
  
Damien tried to move, to turn, to run. But, as he did, he realized that he had already been enchanted.  
  
"Yes, that's right, boy, I've got you trapped already. Now, say hello to your new masters for me."  
  
Damien could only watch in horror as the wizard began to move his arms in complex patterns and mutter arcane words under his breath. He saw a black orb, so dark that it could be shown only in relief, appear out of nowhere and float towards him.  
  
"NO! YOU WON'T SEND HIM THERE! I WON'T LET YOU!"  
  
Out of nowhere, Moktel flew into the sorcerer, disrupting his casting. Damien saw the orb shift in color, until it was a rapidly changing rainbow.  
  
"Stupid vampire, you'll share his fate!"  
  
Damien's eyes were shifted from the orb to his master as the sorcerer threw him into the orb. Seconds later, Damien was absorbed by the orb as well.  
  
A split second later that seemed like an eternity, Damien was lying down in a forest, with his master by his side. 


	6. The Beginning of the End

Barrett saw Damien kneeling over what was left of Moktel and wisely decided to hide behind a nearby oak tree.  
  
"Moktel! MASTER! Are you alive? Please answer me…" Damien pleaded.  
  
"…My boy…remember what happened to me…don't let the same thing happen to you. Don't let your own power go to your head. Don't forget to gauge your opponents strengths…but never forget their weaknesses…you are a Cappadocian, boy. Kill everyone you meet, and bring knowledge of this place back to your clan…kill them, kill them a…"  
  
Moktel was suddenly interrupted by the cough of a machine gun. Damien watched in horror as ragged holes appeared in his sire's face, one for each crack of a gun. Soon, all that was truly left of Moktel's head was a stain in the grass and various chunks of flesh nearby. Damien snapped his head in the direction that the gunshots were coming from, blind rage in his eyes, and tears leaking down his face.  
  
"Holy shit…your eyes…" Barrett stammered.  
  
"Yes? What about them? Perhaps you see your death in them? Because I guarantee you that is what I am."  
  
Damien's long, black hair flowed out behind him as he began a spell meant to paralyze Barrett. Suddenly his concentration was broken by a sharp crack, and he shut his eyes as a sharp pain hit his stomach, and shot out to various parts of his abdomen. Opening his eyes, he looked down to see blood leaking out of a wound in his stomach.  
  
"Hell no, man. You ain't bringin' me down today!" Barrett cried.  
  
"Is this the best you got? Hell, this'll only take a second to finish then." Damien taunted.  
  
Inserting his fingers into the wound, he reached and pulled out a small chunk of lead. The wound immediately began to seal itself. A look of surprise and fear crossed Barrett's face as he continued to pump more rounds into Damien. Damien simply smiled, showing brilliant white teeth, and began to walk towards Barrett.  
  
"Oh yeah? Let's see how you like this then!"  
  
Barrett began readying himself for his Catastrophe limit break. Damien just continued to smile, and crossed his arms over his chest. Barrett shot his gun into the ground, and slowly began to levitate from the recoil. Soon, he was about 10 feet in the air. Laughing, he shot a blast of super- heated plasma at Damien. After a few seconds, he was done, and came back down to the ground. When the dust cleared, however, there was Damien, with no harm done.  
  
"What the…?" was all Barrett could say.  
  
Damien didn't answer. He simply bowed.  
  
"FUCK YOU!!" Barrett screamed.  
  
He began unloading ammo at surprising speeds at Damien, not caring much for accuracy. With superhuman speed, Damien rolled to his right, and dove at Barrett. Crossing the distance faster than Barrett could have believed, Damien was on Barrett before he could bring his gun to bear. Pinning Barrett's shoulders to the ground, a feat he would have thought impossible for a man so skinny, Damien sunk his fangs into Barrett's neck. 


	7. Cloud's Discovery

It was late at night when Cloud Strife entered the forest. He had hoped to get through the forest by dawn, but at this hour it didn't look like he could manage it, and he was already getting tired. After deciding that he would set camp after a few hours, he set off into the forest. After about half an hour, he saw a bright flash and heard numerous gunshots.  
  
"Barret…"  
  
Cloud dashed as fast as he could towards the noises. Fearing the worst only leant more speed to his stride. After only a few minutes but what seemed forever, he came upon a small clearing which was marked by scorch marks on the trees and ground. Looking around, he saw part of a body, missing most of it's left side, and it's head. Studying marks in the grass, he saw a huge, Barret-shaped flattening, and then saw it dragged away deeper into the forest.  
  
"Shit! I'm too late…"  
  
Cloud, after weighing both options in his mind, decided to camp there and then search for Barret in the morning. Most monsters would probably avoid the scene of a conflict for a few days. Setting up his tent, he went to sleep, but did not sleep well. 


	8. Barett's Unlife

Barett awoke dizzy and hungry. He opened his eyes, and after a few seconds of wondering where he was, he remembered the events of the night before. He sat bolt upright, and tried to aim his gun arm. However, in place of his gun there was nothing.  
  
Looking around, he saw a table in front of him in the back of what appeared to be a cave. On the table where several things. There was a salad, a glass of water, a beer, and a plate of spaghetti. On the other side, there was a glass filled to the brim with a red liquid that looked like something that Barett knew of.  
  
"Blood…" the answer came unbidden to Barett's mind.  
  
He immediately set into eating the food. After finishing it all though, he was still very hungry.  
  
"Barett…" The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  
  
"Who the hell said that?"  
  
"Drink the blood, Barett…only the blood will quench your thirst."  
  
Barett was disturbed when he found the thought inviting more than disgusting. Reluctantly, he raised the glass to his lips and took but a drop into his mouth. However, that was all he needed. He quickly gulped down the rest, and looked around, hungry for more. Then he saw Damien standing in the corner where there was nothing before.  
  
"Yes, Barett. You know of what you are."  
  
"A…vampire?" He asked, his voice quivering.  
  
"Yes, Barett. You are a vampire now. And trust me, that blood was but a mere taste of what you can have when I have taken over this world with your help."  
  
Barett could not say anything, could only nod, and hope for more. 


	9. Whispers in the Dark

Vincent sat bolt upright in his bed. He was covered in a cold sweat, and everything felt numbed, even his robotic arm. Ripping the covers from his body, he went to the window. He could feel that something was wrong.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cid cursed as his head impacted the bottom of his plane. His new airplane, which he had just bought, was in need of repairs.  
  
"What the fucking hell?" he cursed.  
  
He too, could feel that something was deeply wrong, and that something had changed for the worse.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tifa looked up from her job as a bartender, and felt a wave of dread pass over her. Looking around, she saw only the few patrons of her bar still left sipping at their various drinks. Obviously, none of them had felt it. Grabbing a bottle of absinthe, she hoped that the feeling would pass as she downed a shot.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Red awoke from his meditation with an immense feeling of foreboding weighing heavily on his heart. A resident of Cosmo Canyon burst in at the slightest sign of disturbance, including Red XIII's increased breathing.  
  
"Master, what is it?" he inquired.  
  
"Something is wrong, my boy…I get the feeling that whatever this is may be a worse plague on this world than Sephrihoth ever was…" 


	10. Damienstown

Over the next few days, the village of Nibelheim was thrown into chaos. Numerous people were disappearing, and then villagers claimed to have seen them walking just outside of the town. The only strange part about this was that their bodies had been buried when their desiccated corpses had been found. One villager had gone mad with fear when he believed one of them had seen him.  
  
Damien found all of this quite amusing when he visited the village in the first hours of the night. He and Barett had sired 10 new vampires, with more on the way, and were having trouble feeding them all. It was after 11 nights of this that Damien felt the calling.  
  
He had just ripped the throat of a villager named Sapher when he felt an immensely strong calling to go to a place that he had learned of. During his time in the town, he had also spent part of his nights learning about this new world. He had heard of a place where a person of incredible power had died. However, he never learned the name of the person. The people never spoke it, just spoke of the person as "he" or "him" but it was spoken with an inflection that told of whom they were speaking. This is where he yearned to go.  
  
Quickly estimating how many people were left in the village, he ran to Barett.  
  
"Barett, I'm going to go away for a few days. I need you to stay here and guard my children."  
  
Barett only nodded and continued searching for fresh blood.  
  
Damien simply vanished into the night. 


End file.
